Habitat loss and degradation

Loss and degradation of terrestrial and aquatic habitats are the primary causes of species' rarity in Minnesota. Habitat degradation includes loss of diversity, fragmentation, disruption of critical processes such as fire, and water quality degradation due to pollutant chemicals, nutrient input, or sedimentation/siltation.

The prairie vole was once a common species in the Great Plains, including the tall grass prairie in southern and western Minnesota. Today, it is uncommon in the state due almost exclusively to the destruction of its prairie habitat through plowing and over-grazing.